Looks like cancer survivor and reality-TV star Abby Lee Miller, 53, is getting stronger every day. In an appearance on “The Doctors” that was sure to thrill supporters, the “Dance Mom” instructor shared proud news with Dr. Travis Stork: “I, yesterday, walked 456 steps — with a walker.”
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Miller went on to detail more grueling aspects of her treatment in the caption only to conclude that she was ignored many times by doctors who she claims made the wrong decisions regarding her diagnosis. She also stated that she wouldn't be alive if she hadn't been able to find the "right team" to tackle her diagnosis.
But year after she began cancer treatment, after chemotherapy and six spinal taps, Miller told Us, "the cancer's gone."
From Crawl to Walk
Of course, she is still dealing with the effects of her treatment. The former dancer and choreographer “struggled thru [sic] months of physical therapy to learn to sit up again, to crawl,” she shared in April 2019 Instagram, post-surgery. “Maybe with a miracle someday, I’ll walk.”
Of her walker-assisted steps, Miller said on “The Doctors,” “I’m thrilled with that.”
She credits weight loss — she’s shed over 100 pounds after having gastric sleeve surgery — with improving her mobility. (She also said she’s had a neck and facelift.)
“I just feel like if I had more of the weight off, I would be walking [more],” she said on “The Doctors.” .To boost her hours in physical therapy, Miller is hoping to return to in-patient rehabilitative therapy setting.
“So I’m trying to get back into one here in L.A. I want to walk out here the next time I come!” she said.
About Burkitt Lymphoma
There are over 68 types of lymphoma, including Burkitt lymphoma, a rare yet aggressive cancer that begins in the immune B-cells (in the bone marrow) and has been known to spread to the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries and other organs.
In a conversation that was not specific to Miller's cancer, Dr. Catherine Diefenbach, director of Translational Hematology and Clinical Lymphoma at NYU Langone Health and the Perlmutter Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet that "Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is not one disease, it's many diseases."
Because treatment varies across different lymphoma types, Dr. Diefenbach said "it's very important that you're treated by a lymphoma specialist" to determine the best treatment regimen.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
